


Prompt: Pirate Ghost

by Mouse_Writes



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-03-25 02:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13824819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mouse_Writes/pseuds/Mouse_Writes
Summary: She didn't have a life before the cave. At least, she had no memories of a life before, not even a name to call herself. All she knew was the inside of that icy cave, the space taken up almost entirely with an eerily still lake littered with the broken remains of ships, and the narrow stone banks of the lake shifting with unresponsive spirits, simply existing. Then something changes - a man appears, draws her from her stupor, and asks for her assistance finding some treasure. In return, he gives his word to help her escape the cave.Written for the "Pirate Ghost" prompt from over on DeviantArt.





	1. Pirate Ghost

“What do you mean you don’t know if I’m...alive or not?"

“I mean precisely that, princess,” he replied tiredly, leaning back against the smooth stone wall and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, alright, I’m going to level with you. All I know about this place is that it’s where spirits like you end up-”

“What do you mean, ‘like me’?”

“Spirits that never learned to shut their mouths and listen to the entire explanation.” He pushed away from the wall and took a step nearer to me. “Look around you – this cave isn’t meant for the living.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I looked again at the strange cave that had become so familiar – really looked and realized just how strange it was. The icy stone walls looked polished smooth and reflected the flickering bluish light of the water. A trickling sort of waterfall fed the massive lake that took up nearly the entire cave. Broken, half-sunken ships jutted up from the lake, waterlogged hulls snapped and reaching into the air like skeletal fingers. Rays of moonlight punched through dozens of holes in the ceiling like skylights, surrounded by a veritable forest of dripping stalactites.

And, of course, along the strange icy shore of the lake wandered dozens of shuffling figures. It was like they were barely even there, looking almost more like smoke-people than the living. And I knew I looked the same, had existed in the same catatonic-stupor until something stirred my attention and brought me back to reality. That had been more than a year ago, and then he appeared – still one of the living.

“So why are you here?” Finally, I looked back to him, my brows furrowing. It didn’t make sense. “If this place isn’t meant for the living, why did you come here?”

“I’m here because I’m looking for something, a relic specifically,” he replied easily, “and I have reason to believe that what I want is in one of those ships.” His eyes drifted to the water, scanning the snapped masts and desolate vessels. “Specifically, it’s a… Well, think of a three-sided pyramid, small enough to fit in your hand. It’s one of countless relics carved from the antlers of some magical elk beast a few centuries ago or something. The important thing is,” he turned back to me, eyes wide with an excitement that worried me, “it’s in one of those ships. So I need you to go find it and bring it to me.”

“Why don’t _you_ go searching for this stupid thing if this is all so important to you?” Was this guy actually serious?

“I’m not a good swimmer.” He gave a little shrug of his shoulders, as if it was so simple.

“You’re kidding me.”

“Why would I joke about not being able to swim? Well, yes, I can swim but that water would kill me before I could even make it to the first ship. In case you haven’t noticed, _we’re in an ice cave!_ Do you have any idea the trouble I went through getting to this damn island in the first place? Because let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. But my... ah, we’ll call them my employer, is not a very nice person. So I can either retrieve the artifact or I might as well stay here with you and hide. Frankly, I don’t think you want me to stay here any more than I want to.”

“Why should I help you?” To be fair, it wasn’t as if I had loads of other things to keep me busy.

“Because… Hmm,” his words trailed off. “Okay, so you don’t have to help me. Surely there’s something _you_ want, huh? Help me get what I want, I'll help you with what you want.”

What was something I wanted? Existing in the cave, only half-awake and practically alone, for so long, there wasn’t much to desire. If I’d had a life before the cave, I had no memories of it. There was nobody to return to, nothing I needed to resolve. And yet, there was one thing that came to mind – “I want you to take me with you.”

“Yeah, yeah okay I’ll-” he froze mid-wave of his hand, suddenly staring at me. His eyes squeezed partially shut, as if I was blurry, which I probably was, “-you… You want to go with me?”

“No, I want you to get me out of this cave. After that, I’ll happily be rid of you.” If I could just get to the mainland, maybe I could find someone who had some idea how to find out who I was before, if there even was a ‘before’.

“Uh, okay. Deal. I’d, ah, shake your hand but I don’t know if I can.”

I stared at him for a moment before reaching my hand out, arching an eyebrow. He, too, stared before giving a small shrug. When he went to grab my hand, I was expecting it to phase through like smoke – but it didn’t. Instead, he managed to grasp my hand for less than a moment before we jerked each jerked away from each other. He actually looked startled. “I vote we never do that again. That… I don’t even know what that was. Like plunging my entire arm into ice water except about a hundred times colder. What was that?”

“I… I don’t know.” His skin had been burning hot, like white hot metal pressed into my hand. Stunned, I turned and went to the water without a word. Hesitating at the shore, I forced myself forward. The water didn’t stir around me, not even the slightest ripple. Looking back, I frowned. “What’s your name?”

“Call me Rune. It’s a long story,” he added before I could question it.

“Whatever,” I grumbled, walking easily into the lake. Despite not disturbing the water, it still offered resistance, still felt like walking through water. When I was submerged up to the shoulders, I ducked my head beneath the surface. Holding my breath at first, I waited a few seconds before exhaling through my nose. No bubbles. Opening my mouth, no water rushed in. I didn’t cough - didn’t need to breathe. Thanks to the moonlight above, I could even see remarkably well in the clear water.

Deciding it was significantly easier to just not question it, I swam toward the nearest ship. It was just a tiny thing, completely submerged, its deck maybe having enough room for a crew of about eight. Not expecting to find anything, I took a quick cursory look inside the only thing that could be called a cabin. Lo and behold, there wasn’t anything of interest.

The next ship was considerably larger, partially jutting out of the water, and took longer to search. Despite finding a small chest of gold spilled in one the corner of a cabin and a pile of ruined books, the ship was empty.

Three vessels later, I began to notice a pattern – the ships were all far emptier than they should have been. There weren’t any remains of people, nothing that suggested anybody actually sailed the boats, and only small amounts of anything that could be considered treasure.

Three ships still needed searching, and all three were massive. The nearest alone looked like it could support well over one-hundred men. It would take forever to search and was nestled in a deep depression in the lakebed, its hull looking as if the ship had been dropped from a height and then submerged.

Making my way inside, everything about the ship felt different. It was darker and had an oppressing weight that made me want to move on immediately. More out of a worried curiosity than any desire to help Rune, I continued deeper into the ship, pulling myself along. It was such a weird feeling, that I was able to interact with the things around me but they didn’t affect me in return.

Room after room, I moved through the vessel, growing increasingly unsettled that there wasn’t any sign of life anywhere. Panic started worming its way into my mind and I passed several rooms without looking inside. It was so dark in the corridor that light pouring through an empty doorway caught my attention immediately and I darted inside.

The room wasn’t large and the opposite wall sported a wall or, at least, what had been a wall at one point but was now just a massive, splintered hole that offered an easy way back to the open water. Even so, my gaze hung on the actual contents of the room. Gold coins covered the floor and spilled out through the hole, chests both opened and closed lay here and there, gems of every kind littered the place like leaves in autumn, ornately carved weapons dangled in their sheaths on hooks, and there was still more. Ruined artwork, waterlogged wooden figures, stone carvings, more jewelry than an entire village could wear, an armoire of intimidating armor sets and very fine clothing, bags filled with treasure and still more. Near the corner of the room, mostly buried in coins and precious stones, something drew my gaze.

Making my way carefully over, I put my hand against the armoire and grabbed the object. Its base was nearly as long as my hand – and it was heavy. Made from what finely polished antler, each face of the relic was carved with strange designs. I turned and took one of the emptier-looking bags from the floor and slipped the weird antler pyramid inside. As I did, a couple things happened at the same time – I dropped the relic in the bag, something snapped tight around my wrist, water filled my mouth and the shock of frigid water suddenly closing around me produced an involuntary gasp, sucking freezing water to burn its way down my throat.

Slapping a hand over my mouth to keep from coughing and inhaling more of the salty water, I managed to put a foot against the armoire and kick off of it, propelling myself at the hole in the hull that I suddenly felt like venerating. Catching a bit of broken wood, I kicked off the bottom lip of the hole toward the surface of the lake. Heart pounding, lungs burning and begging for air, my vision began to blur as I finally broke the surface, immediately coughing up mouthfuls of water. More than once, I slipped back beneath the water and each time it was harder to get back above the surface.

I don’t remember calling for help but I must have because when it started to seem like I might not be able to resurface again, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and haul me back up. By the time we reached shore, I was shaking uncontrollably, my knees buckling when I tried to stand and walk. Rune, shivering himself, practically carried me to a pile of stripped clothing. Roughly, he pulled me out of my soaked clothes, tossing each piece aside.

Only when I was stripped down to my underwear did he kick the pile of clothes toward me. “Put those on,” he instructed, teeth chattering. It was then that I realized he'd stripped down to his shorts, the long lines of his back quivering from the cold. Turning away, I grabbed the clothes with numb fingers and tugged them on - one shirt about three sizes too big and a pair of long cotton trousers. Vaguely, I noticed the strange sort of bracelet clamped around my wrist – too small to even have a hope of removing but so much so that it was uncomfortable. After pulling on the bottoms, I saw Rune had already stepped into the dark leather trousers I’d first seen him in before turning to me, his face bright red from the cold. Without a word, he took my wrist and turned me around, wrapping his arms around my chest. Before I could protest, he sat down heavily, pulling me down with him.

“W-W-What are you d-doing?” My chattering teeth made speaking harder than my embarrassment did.

“Warming the b-both of us up,” he grumbled, grabbing one of his discarded shirts and stuffing it behind his back to lean against. “Trust me, you’re one of the last p-people I’d want to be in this p-position with.”

We sat in silence for a while after that, trying to get feeling back in our limbs. Twenty minutes probably passed before Rune finally said anything – twenty minutes with my back against his chest, his knees pressed against my sides, and his hot breath falling against my ear. “You're still shivering,” he said, unlocking his arms from around me and sitting up straight to take the shirt he’d been leaning on. Feeling dazed, I started to look back at him only for him to turn me around again and start pulling the shirt over my head. I fumbled to get my arms down the sleeves and, when I finally managed it, he pulled me against him again, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Stop that," he grumbled when I tried pulling away. Still, I shifted uneasily, not wanting to be so close. But he was right, I was still shivering and needed to warm up.

I don't know how much longer past, didn't even realize I’d fallen asleep until Rune suddenly let go of me. “I need to stand up,” he said by way of explanation. I leaned forward and he got to his feet, swinging a leg over my head and moving towards the bag that I, apparently, had somehow managed to not lose. “I don’t suppose you can explain how you suddenly came back from the dead?”

Exhausted and still half-asleep, I told him what had happened in the ship. Finding the treasure room, finding the relic, and what must've been the bracelet closing around my wrist. Glancing over when I mentioned the bracelet, he strode back over, bag in hand, and knelt in front of me. “Let me see it,” he said. Taking my wrist when I offered it, he examined the band, dark brows scrunching together. It was a closed band, looking as if it'd been carved from some kind of bone or horn, knife-marks still dark and clear even on the worn edges. Otherwise, it was just a plain band the color of ivory.

“What is it?”

He let out a quiet laugh. “I don’t suppose ‘a bracelet’ is an acceptable answer?”

“Not even remotely.”

“Then you’ll really hate my actual answer. I don’t have a clue.” Dropping my wrist, he grabbed another discarded shirts and spread it on the ground before dumping the bag’s contents on it. The relic came toppling out first, followed by about a handful of gold coins, about a dozen assorted gemstones, several pieces of jewelry, three polished figurines and a strange sort of mask.

I grabbed his wrist when he started to reach for the mask. “Suggestion: maybe don’t just grab random relics from what I still think is a haunted ship? You know, says the girl with a piece of shell around her wrist. And also was dead an hour ago?”

Giving me a crooked smile, he slipped the cuff of his shirt over his hand and picked the mask up, using the sleeve like a mitt. All in all, it seemed remarkably unremarkable – it was a smooth oval, dark with two almond-shaped eye-holes. It had no means of securing it to your head and no other features.

“That’s…weird,” he said, turning it over once and put it back inside the bag. After fixing his sleeve and slipping the coins into his pocket, he put the other items back inside the bag as well. Grabbing the figurines last, he examined them before holding them out to me.

“What are you giving me these for?” I asked as he pressed them into my hands. They were all fairly small, only a bit larger than a chicken egg. One was a jade eagle with one wing carved down around a stone and the other curved above its head, the second was an onyx weasel sitting up on tiny hind legs, and the last was a shark made from what looked like turquoise.

Without answering, he grabbed the remainder of his abandoned clothes and looked back to me, almost expectantly. “I’m not going to keep helping you up.”

I watched, confused, as he went about pulling on his shoes and gathering up the rest of his things. “What are you doing?”

“Look, sweetheart," he said without looking at me, "if you want to enjoy the rest of your life in this cave then that’s your business. But I have things to do, people to sell stuff to, and stuff to steal so I’m gonna go. I just seem to remember you saying something about wanting to leave too. And honestly, I'd say you have more reason to leave now, given the fact that you're alive now.”

I looked back at the lake and realized that the spirits were still there, still wandering aimlessly around as if nothing had changed. And nothing had, not for them. But whatever had happened to me, I was alive now. I couldn’t just stay in the cave and waste this chance. Even if it meant travelling with Rune for a while, it was a death sentence to no go with him.

When I went to answer him, I saw he had already started walking away and I scrambled to catch up. Only when I was on my feet did I realize just exactly how oversized the clothes he'd given me were and I had to hold the trousers up to keep them on. Still, I hurried after Rune, my bare feet slapping against the freezing stone until I fell into step at his side, and let him lead me towards a dark corner of the cave – toward a tunnel. As we neared it, he glanced down at me.  
“I’m going need something to call you.”

I thought for a moment, frowning. “I don’t think I have a name.”

“Well, that’s helpful. When we get back to the ship, maybe keep the whole ‘coming back to life’ thing a secret? That’ll probably freak people out.”


	2. Prompt: Black Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After being brought aboard the Hawksferry, the former ghost-girl meets with the ship's captain and his wife, where she is given a name - Alys. Afterwards, she tries enjoying a quiet moment on deck when Rune stops by for a chat.  
>  Written for the "Black Ice" prompt over on DeviantArt._

“So, what you’re saying is that...you’ve no idea who you are, where you’re from, how you got to that cave, or basically anything before or after Rune here found you?”

Not for the first time, I realized again just how unbelievable my story was. Looking to Rune for any kind of help only awarded me with some kind of amused expression, so I looked back to the man sat in front of me - he’d introduced himself as Rafe, captain of the small merchant ship called the Hawksferry, and seemed like a nice enough man. Still, if he didn’t believe me, would he let me stay until we reached the mainland? “That’s correct,” was all I finally managed to say.

“And you don’t have any belongings with you?”

“All I had were the clothes I was wearing, which are back in the cave.” Rune had already explained all that had happened, with very little input on my part. The only thing I explained was entering the ship and finding the treasure.

Rafe was quiet for a moment, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. “Rune, if you would, go and fetch Else?”

Looking as if he’d rather not, Rune stood and left. Rafe continued to sit in silence until, after what felt like an eternity, he folded his hands and looked to me, his dark eyes filled with such a mix of emotions that it was hard to get any sort of idea what he was feeling. “I’d like to be quite honest with you - I haven’t the slightest idea what it is I should do with you.”

“You don’t believe me.” It felt as if his very words had punched me in the chest.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, lass, and for that matter, I am inclined to believe you. Yours is the only scenario that could even begin to explain how it is you were in that cave, alive and without injury or enchantment.” Standing, he went to the great table on which was pinned an extensively detailed map. Running a hand through his short hair, he turned back after a moment. “Do you have anything we can call you? Anything at all?”

Staring down at my hands, I went through what few tangible memories I had, anything before Rune caught my attention. The few memories there were all blurry, as if trying to watch something through a frosted window. “I don’t,” was all I said.

Before Rafe could get another word in, a woman bundled into the room. Incredibly pregnant, she was still wearing her nightclothes but looked as awake as any of us. Rune, I noticed, wasn’t with her. “You needed me, love?” Going to Rafe’s side, she kept glancing back to me. Of course, I probably looked like quite a sight, wearing men's clothes several sizes too big, barefoot and my hair still clinging to my shoulders.

“I did, Else - I, well, the young lady here will be accompanying us back to the mainland.” He took a minute to briefly explain the situation while I sat by, wishing that I could have any answers to offer at all. He left out the part about me being given a second life, something we'd agreed to keep between him, Rune and I.

“You poor dear,” she began, looking back to me, though her words held only genuine concern. “Come along with me, and we’ll get some food into you, and some better fitting clothes.” Bustling over, she took me by the arm and hurried me out of the room, leaving me only able to give Rafe a quick glance, quick enough that I couldn’t read the expression behind his smile.

Moving a short ways down the hall, Else took me to what turned out to be a small kitchen of sorts. Leaving me by the table inside the door, she gathered up some bread and cheese, dried fruit and a small waterskin. Setting it all on the table with a plate and knife, she urged me to eat and eased down into the seat opposite me, offering a warm and kindly smile. “I’m sure you already know, but I’d like to be a bit more proper - my name is Else, and Rafe is my husband. He can be a little difficult sometimes, so I hope he minded himself when Rune brought you here,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, he was very respectful,” I told her, a little awkwardly.

“And Rune? Was he good to you?”

Looking up from my bite of bread, I regarded her. She was a young woman, with dark eyes that conveyed only compassion. In the end, all I could do was smile and nod. “He’s… Well, he’s a bit of an ass, but he did help me, and lent me these.” I motioned to the clothes I wore, mind flashing back to him ordering me to put them on after pulling me from the freezing water.

“Oh, well that does explain why they don’t fit.” Elsa laughed, nodding as she did so. “You’re taller than me, but I could mend some of my clothes. Well, from before,” she motioned down to her belly, “and I think they’ll more than suffice until we reach land.”

“Thank you. Really, I appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s no problem my dear. Now then, you eat your fill while I go and find some clothes for you. I’ll be back shortly.” With that, she stood and made to leave before stopping at the door and looking back. “By the way, I know Rafe said that you don’t have anything to call yourself, but I think maybe we should call you something, at least until you remember more about yourself? What do you think about Alys? If I have a daughter, we decided that would be her name.”

I smiled, more than a little stunned by how very genuine she seemed. “I think it’s a beautiful name, thank you Else.” Face brightening at my words, she nodded and waddled from the room. Left alone, I set about eating the food Else had left me. It was plain, but quieted the grumbling in my stomach. When Else still hadn’t returned by the time I finished eating, I waited around for a few more minutes before getting up and making my way back up on deck.

Only out in the cold fresh air did I realize how warm it was below deck. The wind had picked up since Rune and I had boarded, pushing rather forcefully against me, pressing me against the railing when I went to lean against it. The wind pushed sea spray into my face, dampening the flyaway hairs at my temples and making me blink. But that feeling - cold wind against my skin, rough wet wood beneath my bare feet, the sudden freedom from a prison I hadn’t known I’d been locked away in - it was bizarrely liberating. Even the pack ice surrounding the small ship was almost inviting, dark on the black sea. Whatever reason I'd been brought back, some small part of me felt as if I was being called to do something... Of course, just thinking that made it sound ludicrous.

“So,” Rune started, making me jump and whirl to face him. He had changed into warmer clothes,and stood against the mast, his legs crossed at the ankles and his hands pushed into his pockets. He leveled his dark eyes with mine, looking for all the world like the last person I’d want to be alone with on deck. “You’ve met the good captain and his missus, then. And, it seems, we’ve finally got something to call you.” Stepping away from the mast, he moved closer, giving off the feeling that I was watching a snake emerge from tall grass. “Alys, she said? Pity, I was certain the others would get a good laugh at the ‘mystery girl’ brought aboard in the dead of night.”

I couldn’t help but frown, glaring as Rune eased against the rail beside me. “It doesn’t matter what they think,” I started, sounding defensive.

“Oh?” The way his voiced raised, as if I amused him, set my teeth on edge. “You don’t care in the slightest of the opinions of the crew you’ll be spending the next week and a half with? You don’t think they’ll question the mystery girl?” He leaned closer, his eyes hard as ice. “The girl who came without a name, without any idea who she is, where she’s from, nothing? You aren’t at all concerned that they might think you're a liar? Someone trying to escape a dark past?”

Realizing I’d backed up a step, I forced myself to stand straight, raising my chin, all of which brought me uncomfortably close to him. I could feel the heat from his skin, smell the mixture of salt and spice that clung to the clothes I wore. “And what about you then? You’re supposed to be a treasure hunter, and you sell yourself as a self-interested bastard, but you risked your life for me, back in the cave.”

Instead of an answer, he just laughed - a quick, quiet sound, but humorless. “Be mindful, Miss Alys,” he whispered, his tone somewhere between teasing and threatening, “you’re starting to tread on thin ice.”

Feeling brave, or possibly a bit like I had a death wish, I put on a smile, trying to match the mocking sneer he wore. “Well then, I suppose it’s a good thing you’re here to pull me out of the water should I fall through.” And before he could see how badly my hands were shaking, I shoved past him, heading back below deck to find Else.


End file.
